UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BULLETIN 

Issued Weekly by the University 

VOL. X APRIL 14, 1913 No. 29 

|Entered as second-class matter, December 11, 1912, at the Post Office at Urbana, 
Illinois, under the Act of August 24, 1912.J 


DEPARTMENT OF 

MINING ENGINEERING 



UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 


Monograph 



















































































































































































































































































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DEP ARTMENT OF^j 

mining/engineering 


University of Illinois 

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ILLUSTRATIONS of the 
WORK and EQUIPMENT 


Published by the University of Illinois 
U rbana-Champaign 



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Two 





THE COAL WASHING AND ORE DRESSING LABORATORY 
This Laboratory occupies a space 42 feet by 59 feet. 


































HISTORY 


The Department of Mining Engineering of the University of 
Illinois was established by the Legislature as the result of a 
movement inaugurated at a Fuel Conference held at the Uni¬ 
versity in March, 1909. At that Conference, a committee repre¬ 
senting the mine operators, the United Mine Workers, the State 
Mine Inspectors and the manufacturers of the State, was 
appointed to urge upon the Legislature the importance of pro¬ 
viding adequate instruction in Mining Engineering at the 
University of Illinois. In 1911, $25,000.00 was appropriated 
for equipment which has now been installed and is illustrated in 
the present circular. 


COURSES 

The course in Mining Engineering during the freshman and 
sophomore years includes the same elementary training in 
languages, mathematics, mechanics, drafting, physics and chem¬ 
istry as the other engineering courses, with the addition of ele¬ 
mentary geology and the elements of mining such as blasting, 
drilling, timbering, shaft-sinking and tunneling. 

The general principles common to all branches of mining 
engineering, together with surveying, steam engineering, 
electrical engineering, advanced chemistry and geology are 
given during the junior year. During the senior year the 
student has the option of specializing in coal mining, metalli¬ 
ferous mining, metallurgy or mining geology. 

Not only do the students of this department have all the ad¬ 
vantages of a Mining School, but they have also the benefits,, 
both cultural and technical, to be derived from an Engineering 
College of the highest standing, and from a great University. 


Three 



EQUIPMENT 

The offices, lecture rooms, drafting room, museum and two 
laboratories for safety lamps and mine gases, occupy the second 
floor of the Transportation Building shown on the front cover. 
This building, completed in 1912, is a three-story fire-proof 
building 143 feet long and 65 feet wide. 

The Mining Laboratory is a brick structure 42 feet by 100 
feet in size, divided into four parts: a chemical laboratory, 
a drilling and blasting laboratory, a mine rescue chamber, and a 
coal washing and ore concentration laboratory. On the second 
floor above the chemical laboratory are a computation room, 
an office, and a store room. 



THE MINING LABORATORY 


Four 






COAL WASHING AND ORE DRESSING LABORATORY 



The sampling room contains a vibrating screen; a complete 
set of hand screens with screen shaker; bucking boards; a small 
roll jaw crusher and a disc pulverizer; also special devices for 
grinding down coal samples. Sunk in the floor are two steel 
plates for quartering. 



The crushing and weighing room contains a pair of 18-in. by 
20-in. coal rolls, a gyratory crusher, a pair of 12-in. by 12-in, 
ore rolls, and dormant and platform scales. 


Five 







A pivoted bucket carrier travels horizontally below the floor 
in a pit covered by movable plates, rises along the end of the 
building and returns overhead, dumping automatically into 
bins, each holding 5 tons of coal or 10 tons of ore. 



The revolving screen and the shaker screen made in two 
sections are inclosed and deliver to bins underneath. A 
vibrating screen is used for very fine material. 


Six 














The overflow from the stamp battery is elevated by a sand 
pump and delivered to a 2-ft. cone classifier which discharges 
below upon a jerking table. The overflow from the classifier 
goes to a 3-ft. cone classifier which discharges below upon a 
vanner, while the overflow from the second classifier passes to a 
slimer or directly to a tank placed below the mezzanine floor. 



Seven 











Eight 


Coal or ore may be washed on either a three-compartment new century jig, a Stewart jig, 
or a Richards pulsator jig, all of which deliver into an overhead bin. A traveling 
Avery scale automatically weighs the material from any overhead bin 
before it is delivered to the screens, jigs or stamp battery. 













The tailings from the tables, vanner and slimer pass into 
four callow tanks hung below the mezzanine floor, and beneath 
each tank is a steam drying table upon which the thickened 
tailings can be drawn and dried. 



Water in the jigs is circulated by a centrifugal pump situated 
on the ground floor and beneath an elevated table that holds 
receptacles for the hutch and heavy products from the three- 
compartment jig. 


Nine 






CHEMICAL LABORATORY 



The chemical laboratory is equipped for the analysis and assay 
of coal and ore. It also contains appliances for the testing of 
ores and coal on a small scale, such as hand jigs, classifiers, sink 
and float devices, and specific gravity balances. 



Ten 



















DRILLING AND BLASTING LABORATORY 




A block of concrete sunk in the floor is used for testing and 
demonstrating the use of drills and coal cutters, operated by 
electric or air power. 


The Explosives Laboratory contains both hand and mechanical 
screens for sizing black powder. By the use of sectional drill¬ 
holes practice is given in the different ways of loading, and by 
the use of dummy cartridges and exploders all the operations 
of blasting can be demonstrated with perfect safety. 


Eleven 














The drafting room contains a large collection of photographs, 
mine maps, plans of mining machinery and the catalogs of 
manufacturers of mining machinery, all card-indexed. There is 
also a library of reference books upon design. The mine sur¬ 
veying equipment is also kept here, as well as the files of principal 
mining magazines. 



The museum contains samples of washed coal from nearly 
every washery in Illinois; also coke, briquets, and products of 
ore concentration, together with metallurgical products, models- 
of mine workings, mine timbering, signaling and lighting devices* 
and haulage and hoisting appliances. 


T welve 






























SAFETY LAMP AND COAL DUST LABORATORY 



The safety lamp, mine gas and explosibility of dust laboratory 
contains an assortment of safety and electric mine lamps; mag¬ 
netic-locking and lighting devices, and the most improved appli¬ 
ances for testing lamps. It also contains apparatus for gas 
analysis and a photometer room for determining the lighting 
power of mine lighting devices. 



The coal dust laboratory is equipped for the determination 
of the relative explosibility of coal dust and other fine materials. 


Thirteen 













MINE RESCUE STATION 



Since 1909, the Department of Mining Engineering, the State 
Geological Survey, and the United States Bureau of Mines have 
jointly maintained a mine rescue station at the University. 
The Illinois Mine Rescue Station Commission has also placed on 
exhibition at the station, breathing apparatus and other safety 
devices. 



Fourteen 
















A TYPICAL VIEW ON THE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS 


Fifteen 













University of Illinois 

THE STATE UNIVERSITY 


The University Includes The 

COLLEGE OF LITERATURE AND ARTS (Ancient and Modern 
Languages and Literatures, Philosophical and Political Science, 
Groups of Studies, Economics, Commerce and Industry). 

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING (Graduate and undergraduate 
courses in Architecture; Architectural Engineering; Civil En¬ 
gineering; Electrical Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; 
Mining Engineering; Municipal and Sanitary Engineering; 
Railway Engineering). 

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE (Astronomy, Botany, Chemistry, Ge¬ 
ology* Mathematics, Physics, Physiology, Zoology). 

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE (Animal Husbandry, Agronomy, 
Dairy Husbandry, Horticulture, Veterinary Science, Household 
Science). 

COLLEGE OF LAW (Three years’ course). 

SCHOOLS—GRADUATE SCHOOL, MUSIC (Voice, Piano, Vio¬ 
lin), LIBRARY SCIENCE, PHARMACY (Chicago), EDU¬ 
CATION, RAILWAY ENGINEERING AND ADMINISTRA¬ 
TION. 

A Summer School with a session of eight weeks is open during the 
summer. 

A Military Regiment is organized at the University for instruction 
in Military Science. Closely connected with the work of the 
University are students’ organizations for educational and social 
purposes (Glee and Mandolin Clubs; Literary, Scientific, and 
Technical Societies and Clubs; Young Men’s and Young 
Women’s Christian Associations). 

United States Experiment Station, State Laboratory of Natural 
History, Biological Experiment Station on Illinois River, State 
Water Survey, State Geological Survey. 

Engineering Experiment Station. A department organized to 
investigate problems of importance to the engineering and manu¬ 
facturing interests of the State. 

The Library contains 200,000 volumes. 

The University offers 628 Free Scholarships. 

For catalogs, and information address 

C. M. McCONN, Registrar, 

Urbana, Illinois. 



ILLINOIS PRINTING CO., DANVILLE, ILL. 


